Chief Marketer Staff

• Fidelity, McCartney Collaborate on More than Tour

  Fidelity Investments is readying a music-based cause-marketing program as part of its partnership with singer Paul McCartney. Fidelity is sponsoring McCartney’s 11-week tour this fall, and McCartney appears in a TV spot that broke Sept. 8 as part of …

• Agencies

  TV Guide Counts Down New Look Via Sweeps

  TV Guide is giving itself a whole new look and fans a chance to celebrate with an online sweepstakes that awards a chance to visit TV show sets and meet some of the top stars. Starting Oct. 17, TV Guide is switching from its digest format to a full …

• Burger King Franchisees Drop McDonald’s Lawsuit

  An association representing some 1,250 Burger King franchisees has dropped a class-action lawsuit it filed last month against McDonald’s Corp for false advertising and unfair competition from McDonald’s Monopoly games and other promotions from 1995 to …

• McDonald’s Brings “Passport to Play” to Schools

  McDonald’s Corp. targets school kids with a physical education program rolling into 31,000 schools this fall. “Passport to Play” gives phys ed teachers a curriculum based on games from other countries. Kids in grades 3-5 get a passport to track their …

• Agencies

  MTV Brings Reality TV to Viewers Via Competition

  MTV is giving viewers their own shot at 15 minutes of fame via a new reality show that lets consumers vote by text message or online for their favorite wanna-be reality star for a chance to win their own six-episode series. The Reality Show details the …

• News Brief

  SUBWAY: restaurants will become the sole sponsor of Little League Baseball and Softball as part of a two-year sponsorship. Under the deal, Subway will use the sponsorship, which runs from 2006-2008, to spread health-awareness message to Little League …

• Live From Shop.org: CatalogCity Coming Out as Shop.com

  Having changed its name from CatalogCity, Shop.com is in the midst of a rebranding effort to boost sales for its merchant customers and for the first time etch its name into consumers’ minds.

• Office Depot to Close Viking’s U.S. Business

  (Multi Channel Merchant) In a surprise move, $14.4 billion office products conglomerate Office Depot on Sept. 12 said it planned to close the domestic operations of its Viking Office Products business and merge it within its Office Depot operations.

• Simmons Uses Predictive Software for Consumer Study

  Simmons Market Research Bureau has incorporated Experian Marketing Services’ TrueTouch predictive behavioral software in the Simmons Spring National Consumer Study.

• Online Ad Network Formed for Targeting Athletes

  Tas Interactive Ltd. has launched the Active Athlete Advertising Network for targeting online advertising to hundreds of Web sites geared to sports minded individuals.